| LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA |  |
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| LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA | |
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Concord Townnship, Louisa County, Iowa
Transcribed by Jackie Terry, August 12, 2016
The Pleasant Grove Bethel Church of God was organized by Elder Abraham Holemns near the Indian Creek Cemetery in 1852. There were eight (8) members; Reeder, Martin Diller, Andrew Kauffman, John Keck, Mrs. J. Schumaker. They met in members’ homes until about 1870 when the first Church was built on land then owned by Josephus and Mary Ann Clark.
| Abraham Holemns | Charles F. Moger |
| John Kramer | H. Murray |
| L.F. Chamberlain | F. F. Kiner |
| William Vance | Jesse Huddle |
| R. H, Bolten | E. E. Heltibridle |
| Richardson | John Green |
| A.C. Garner | Everett Naftzger |
| J.S. Miller | A. L. Shuey |
| David Kepford | N. C. Andresen |
| Joseph S. Miller | Burris P. Moore |
| J. C. Kepford | Larry Eklund |
| I. Ossman | Donald Sarver |
| Martha Sutcliff | Ray Draper |
| J. M. Mullen | Leo K. Ruley |
| C. L. Wilson | Elmer Armstrong |
| A.B. Chamberlain | Paul Goossen |
Reverend A.B. Chamberlain wrote on November 13, 1904 that the old Bethel built in 1870 was destroyed by fire. He had preached that morning “Build up again the breaches in the walls”. At 3o’clock in the afternoon a fire alarm was given and soon the old meeting hose was in ashes. At once a subscription was begun and within 10 months a new Bethel was built and was dedicated on August 13, 1905. The cost of the new debt-free building was about $2,500.
The congregation was composed of but a few members, but all were zealous Christians and earnest workers, with Reverend A.B. Chamberlain, who had just recently succeeded his father, Reverend L. F. Chamberlain, as pastor of the Church. Much credit was due Reverend Chamberlin for his untiring efforts in the rebuilding of the pretty little Church home.
In 1953 the building was expanded by a new 20 by 30 foot addition, using materials from the nearby Washington Independent School, which had closed to be consolidated with the Columbus Community Schools. This addition, on the south side of the building, was called the “Friendship Room”. Built at an approximate cost of $2,400, the debt free Friendship Room was dedicated on December 6, 1953.
On April 12, 1977, Pleasant Grove Community Church was moved forty feet directly wet of its old location onto a new basement foundation.
At Church Council meeting, December 1, 1975, the trustees were directed to make inquiries toward planning for at least a partial basement with kitchen, restroom facilities, and a well for water. Contractors were consulted; questions asked; prices compared; plans made,…
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…discussed, and remade. At a summer meeting in 1976 a contract was signed with Goodwin House Movers of Washington, Iowa to construct a full basement and move the Church structure onto the foundation.
In October, 1976, all men of the congregation gathered with tractors, shovels, and spades to do the necessary digging. The cement was then poured for the walls and floor and our project was underway! A well was also drilled at this time.
However, because of the severity of the winter, moving did not take place until the spring of 1977. When Mr. Goodwin directed his helpers, “Just about one more inch”, he had an audience of many of the Church congregation as they wanted to witness this momentous occasion.
Even though the stupendous job of moving the Church was accomplished, our work was only beginning because it took a lot of work to finish the rough new basement to make an attractive, usable area that we have been looking forward to for so long.
Written shortly after the Church was moved by: Mrs. Ralph (Kathrin) Lieberknect
In 1977, a celebration was held to dedicate the Church in its new location and to observe the Church’s 125th anniversary.
Several families have had members of the Pleasant Grove Bethel Church down through the generations. Early in 1993, Genevieve Shellabarger was the oddest member and Elyssa McFarland was the youngest member. At that time seven couples who were members of the Church had been married over 50 years, and several members had been attending the Pleasant Gove church during their entire lives.
The Church has had an active Ladies Aid Society, formerly called the Concord Charity Sewing Circle, for many years. A Men’s Fellowship Group, later named the “Anchormen”, was started in 1979. The Ladies Aid Society and the Anchormen scheduled several fund raising projects during the year – a sausage and pancake supper; an ice cream supper; and a fall bazaar and supper.
At one time the Church had a choir of 10 to 15 members who met in homes for choir practice on Thursday nights.
In earlier years the Church bell was rung for funerals, tolling once for each year of the departed person’s life. The bell was run to call members to Church, and a continuous ringing of the bell meant that something was wrong, such as the fire that destroyed the Church in 1904.
A Children’s Chapel was started by Reverend Ruley around 1970 and continued until about 1980. This Chapel and the Daily Vacation Bible School were well attended. These activities that have been a positive influence to many children were guided by the teachers and the ladies of the Church.
In earlier times the Church and Sunday School were closed for the three winter months. During this period every member looked forward to spring when the Church would again be in operation.
In 1965, the Church was reorganized and officers were elected to form a council consisting of three Elders, three Deacons, and three Trustees. At first this council met quarterly, but soon began meeting monthly to conduct the business of the Church.
On July 12, 1992 six stained glass windows were dedicated as part of the 140th anniversary of God’s grace and blessing. Marjorie Newell Gerdes of LaGrande, Oregon designed the floral patterned windows.
In 1992 the Elders were Margaret Gabriel, Lee Foster and Tom McFarland; the Deacons were Kenneth Houseal, Ruth Gunther and Ramona Wink; and Charles Clark, Tim Wink and Lewis Dalmeyer were serving as Trustees.
Pleasant Grove Bethel Church of God members have always loved their little Church that stands in a pleasant, peaceful location, and it has always been their hope that it will live on for many years to come.
To Hearts and Homes:
It was a quiet Sabbath morning in November. The rattle of the huskers’ wagons and the thud of the heavy cars striking with almost rhythmic regularity were not heard for that day. We had time to realize that one day in seven that it was autumn in Iowa, the fairest land God’s sun e’er shone upon. Through the frost-laden air of early morning sounded the music of the church bell. Its call hastened the tardy preparations for Sabbath school in nearby homes and soon we friends and neighbors were gathering in our house of worship.
On a knoll in the midst of a grove of oaks stood the little bethel. Years before it had been christened from that grove Pleasant Grove Bethel. Loitering a moment at the steps and looking across the meadows and cornfields, which Jack Frost had covered with the fairest of earth’s jewels, we could see in a great half circle the wooded bluffs of Iowa’s namesake river.
Old fashioned simplicity marked the service. We sang a few songs and studied the life story of the good high priest Jehoiada. One and all listened intently to the brief message of the man who broke unto us the bread of life.
The service was over, but the people still lingered. City congregations may be satisfied to greet each other with brief nods, but not we. Not one of us started home until we had shaken hands and talked with everybody else. When we did go we carried with us happy memo-…
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…ries which would lighten the coming days of toil. How could we guess it had been our last meeting in that dear little church? A few hours more and the cling-g-g- of the telephone bell summoned us to hear the message. “The church is on fire”. From north, south, east and west the people came. Some in buggies or on horseback, some hatless and coatless, and out of breath while running. But it needed only a glance to tell us that there was nothing that man could do. The little white Bethel was doomed. Already the flames were curling under the eaves. The early comers snatched the organ and tables beyond reach of the fire. One little fellow carried in his sturdy arms the old church Bible.
The flames did their work swiftly. We gazed in awe on the transformation which they wrought. Every board and every shingle glowed charred, and yet the church stood. Then, wonder of wonders, to our startled ears came a familiar sound. The voice of the bell, seeming in that moment to respond to the spirit of the fire, ran out once, and then again. The church’s glory like the pillar of fire which guided the Israelites of old, seemed not of this world, but is was only for a moment. Then the belfry fell backward and the brave little bell found a fiery grave. Soon nothing was left but a pile of burning embers.
We turned sadly away. Truly one of the ties that bind us is broken. What memories cluster around that church which for nearly forty years has been a part of the neighborhood’s life. Memories of the couples who had stood at its altar vowing “to love and cherish until death us two do part!” Memories of the old-fashioned “big meetings”, with their crowds and rousing choruses, of awakening knowledge of the Friend above which had some to many hearts under that roof. Sadder memories of the many, many loved ones we had carried out of its doors to their last resting place. Babies, gray-haired fathers and mothers, girls just blossoming into womanhood – we had bidden them all good-bye in that church. Only the other day a fair young wife had slept quietly at its altar unmoved by the tears and heartache of those who would fain have awakened her. That pile of brick and ashes will touch the heart of every passer-by for many days to come. For until the fair and sacrifice of a hard-working people make a new church possible, Pleasant Grove stands desolate, without its Bethel.
Mary C. Newell, November 1904
The following statements were taken from letters written in 1977 by former pastors and members of the Pleasant Grove Bethel Church for the Church’s 125th anniversary celebration.
“In 1906 I was appointed to Pleasant Grove and Lone Tree Chapels. We began a revival meeting on January 22, 1907 and continued until February 10. Twenty one services in all were well attended considering the weather.”
Edler Charles F. Moger, Pastor
“We were appointed to Pleasant Grove, Lone Tree Chapel, and Cairo in 1909. The church and the people here were very kind to their pastor and family during the year, both by words of encouragement and by supplying their wants with good things of earth for which they will ever be held in grateful remembrance.”
Jesse Huddle
“I remember my father saying he had preached the funerals of three generations at the Pleasant Grove Church and Pleasant Grove was his favorite Church home. In 1900 we lived in Columbus City and he was assigned to Pleasant Grove and also Sandy Grove Church north of there. I accompanied him on many occasions, Mother not always going, and I remember of invitations to the Sunday dinners at the home of Judge Edwin Newell, Jack Fosters, Farmers, Shellabargers, Blankenhorns, and others. I remember the donations consisting of wood, corn, oats, hay and meat and the splendid spirit in which their commodities were given.”
C. Edwin Wilson
“Occasionally in the earlier years, before road improvements, the services at the Church would be suspended for a couple of winter months. And for several years Church services were limited to every second Sunday, and on that date there was an additional service in the evening. Jack Foster, an unforgettable character by everyone who knew him, customarily walked to the evening services. On dark nights he carried a lantern and the young Newells were more than willing to walk along on the way home.”
Edwin O. Newell
“My early recollections of the Church are not specific as to time but the most vivid is the burning of the old Church in 1904. I was eight years old and had never witnessed a major fire == an awesome experience! First the urgent ringing of the Church bell soon after returning from the morning service brought the whole neighborhood back to the Church. I don’t remember who first discovered it but it might well have the Clark family close by. At any rate it was Clair Clark (younger than I) who carried out the huge old Church Bible. The last sound of the bell came when the belfry crashed down into the raging fire. It was a sad and sober group gathered there – and I remember the minister, Fred Chamberlin, as he went about among them. He must have helped greatly to accomplish what seemed impos-…
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…sible – a new Church just a year later! The Church bell seemed much more important in those days. It was used always for services at the Church – it tolled for funerals – often once for each year of life of the one who had passed on. And a sudden ringing of the Church bell was always a call for help.”
Frances Newell Jessup
“Thinking back over our years with you, I think you may have benefited me as much as I did you. As you probably know, I had up to that time – and perhaps in a measure still do – put a good deal of stock in revival campaigns, conversions, and public show. But if I learned anything from you, I learned that the love of God can flow just as deep within the heart of those who make little noise about it, as in those who proclaim it loudly.”
Leo K. Ruley, Pastor
“A few rows up and across the aisle I watch my father (Hugh Newell), tall and lean half-sitting on the back of a pew. With the ease of years he faces his Sunday School class of young men. His hair carefully combed over, chin clean from the week’s shave. His wide overall straps cut a gulley into the shirt across thin shoulders. Through the soft voices of the other classes grouped around the room, I hear his clear voice, reading a Bible passage and then the pause. The need to talk over with the fellas just what was meant. The business at hand was getting to know the Lord a little better.”
Marjorie Newell Gerdes
“The time came when we needed more room for our congregation. A school house was purchased and moved to the Bethel, a remodeling project continued and a new fellowship room was added, furnace installed, etc. The new addition proved to be a wonderful asset for Bible School classes, wedding receptions, Daily Vacation Bible School, Ladies Aid Society and Youth meetings. The congregation possessed a wonderful spirit of cooperation when they saw a need, they talked it over, and when it was decided by the group; to do it, they did it. Finance was never a problem at Pleasant Grove. When the project was completed, the money was always there. May we “Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Luke 1:3)”
Reverend Burris Paul Moore
As I recall old Church friends, I think of Hugh Newell as Sunday School Superintendent and his ability to bring the congregation to order and worship; Jess and Pearl Newell and their mission work, such as seeing that their new neighbor’s children got to Sunday School by stopping by and bringing them along on Sunday morning; the habit of Mrs. Nellie Schlichting greeting everyone both young and old with a hand shake and smile; Mr. Homer Clark adding his approving A-mens to the pastor’s admonitions; Cecil Schlichting playing the piano so artistically; the Frisk family organizing the Young People’s Group and planning many seasonal parties; Lewis Newell faithfully teaching the Young Married Couples Class for many years; Mrs. Alice Bennett bringing her beautiful floral arrangements each Sunday morning from the first flowers in the spring until the last ones in the fall; and my mother’s love and concern for the congregation and her faithfulness in attendance with her children.”
Helen Dallmeyer Thompson
“From spring until late fall the building was quite comfortable. When the windows were open there was generally a cross breeze wafting through bringing in the happy sounds of singing birds and lowing cows and the chirping of insects and earthy smells of the woodlands, trees, grass, wildflowers, and brown earth. Sitting there in the pews with neighbors, neither questioning nor being questioned, drinking in the sounds and smells of nature, and taking part in the home spun type of service, one surely felt very close to God.”
Harriet Lieberknecht Warren
In a short time we started a small orchestra. As I recall, Harlan Foster played the trombone, Viola Shellabarger the piano, Cecil the violin, and Lester Wiele and I the clarinets. We met at the various homes or at the Church to practice and played for Church and young people’s meetings We also went to a few other Churches of God meetings and played.
“I had been in the habit of attending Christian Endeavor on Sunday evenings so with Jessie Foster as a special ally, we began a young people’s society to meet each Sunday evening with Scripture study, singing, and a leader to present a lesson. We encouraged all to participate.
“I was quite dismayed to be chosen to teach the Adult Bible Class. I had taught primary and junior boys’ classes before but with all the older people, I felt most inadequate. I did my best, and how well I remember Mrs. Hilton Lieberknecht came to me and encouraged me so much by telling me she appreciated my teaching and she felt I was doing well. (Makes me remember we should help our young people with a little praise!)”
Mrs. Cecil (Margaret B.) Schlichting
“Our family attended the Church during my teen-age years and after my marriage. We entered the Churchyard hill from the south, with the Model T Ford trying to meet the challenge of making the incline in high gear, a possibility if a valve and carbon job had recently conditioned it for the feat.”
Cecil Schlichting
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Picture: Pleasant Grove is located south of highway 92 four miles east of Columbus Junction.
Picture: Andrew Jackson Foster (Jack) 1863-1918 and wife Marilla Kemp Foster shown with 3 daughters – Elva (standing), Jessie (standing middle) and Orpha (baby). Jack served as an elder at Pleasant Grove until the time of his death on November 12, 1918. Their home served as the minister’s home many times.
Picture: Lee and Leila Foster
Picture: Pastor Paul and Mrs. Goosen
Picture: Pleasant Grove Church Board 1992
L to R: Kenneth Houseal, Pastor Goosen, Lee Foster, Romelle Dallmeyer, Ruth Gunther, Lois Houseal, Lewis Dallmeyer.
Picture: Pleasant Grove Church quartet, late 1940s
(L to R) Noel Newell, Joyce Shellabarger, Rose Mary Bennett (Hayes), La Moyne Shellabarger.
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Picture: Rev and Mrs. Burris P. Moore and family.
Picture: L to R: Genevieve Shellabarger, Mary Louise Phillips, Evelyn Newell, Linda Johnson, Mildred Newell, Cecile Stewart. The kitchen crew about 1980.
Picture: Interior of Pleasant Grove Bethel.
Picture: In 1983 these five couples totaled 251 years of marriage (picture taken in 1983), now ten years later we add 50 more years to these five couples. Paul and Cecile Steward (left front), Ralph and Katherin Lieberknecht (second row left), Lewis and Evelyn Newell (2nd row right), and Genevieve and Harold Shellabarger (center back) will note their 60th wedding anniversaries in 1993. Herbert and Mildred Newell (front right) will note their 63rd anniversary in 1993. The Lieberknechts have since moved to Florida. Lewis and Romelle Dallmeyer (not pictured) have also celebrated golden anniversaries.
Picture: Congregation in 1978.
Picture: Pastor Paul Goosen, Raymond Bonnichsen, Lewis Dallmeyer